Broadway Show Ticket Sales Analysis w/e 06/12/2016

In the lead up to the Tony Awards, the Hamilton grosses are at an all-time high, breaking the two million dollar mark for the first time. The overall industry saw a healthy boost this past week, with the vast majority of shows showing an increase in ticket sales.

This week’s notable movements on Broadway are:

“Hamilton” Breaks the Two Million Dollar Mark

In the week ending June 12, 2016, the week leading up to the 2016 Tony Awards, Hamilton earned its highest weekly gross to date. As if theatregoers were even more ready to spend top dollar for this incredible hit show in anticipation of its winning the most prestigious award given to a theatrical production – the Tony Award for Best Musical – the show’s weekly gross reached an all-time high. For the first week yet of its run, the show broke the two million dollar mark, bringing in $2,028,208, which represents an astonishing 151.93% of its gross potential. With a top ticket price of $475.00, the average paid admission was $188.60, and the audience was filled up to 101.8% of its capacity. On June 8, 2016, it was announced that Hamilton has raised its top price ticket point to the mouth-gaping figure of $849 for premium tickets. These tickets will apply to a new block opening up for the first four months of 2017 to American Express cardholders first. Therefore, this higher ticket price is unrelated to the record-breaking weekly gross from this past week, but it is a sign that it’s only up from here for Hamilton. At the same time, the producers announced that in an effort to make the show more affordable for some people, they will also begin to offer 46 seats per show at the price of $10 per ticket. They intend for the higher price and lower price tickets to balance each other out.

Entire Broadway Industry Saw a Jump Leading Up to the Tony Awards

It was not just Hamilton that saw an increase in ticket sales this past week. Of the 35 shows currently running, 31 saw an increase in ticket sales. Overall, the industry saw a collective increase of $2,078,650 among the 35 shows that were also running in the previous week. The biggest increase was seen by Wicked, which brought in $1,859,039, an increase of $174,221 from the week before. Almost as big an increase was demonstrated by Hamilton, which went up by $173,219 to reach its record-breaking weekly gross of $2,028,208. To put that in context, Wicked plays in the Gershwin Theatre, which has 1,933 seats, whereas Hamilton plays in the Richard Rodgers Theatre, which has only 1,400 seats. The next biggest increase was seen by Blackbird, which brought in $552,394, an increase of $139,110, in its final week of performances. An American in Paris, a top contender but runner-up for Best Musical in 2015, saw an increase of $119,097 to reach a weekly gross of $800,245. Furthermore, The King and I increased by $101,035 to reach a weekly gross of $584,249. Meanwhile, the biggest decreases were negligible, with An Act of God going down by $36,563 to reach a weekly gross of $256,649, She Loves Me going down by $26,462 to reach a weekly gross of $618,089, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night going down by $24,270 to reach a weekly gross of $408,191.
The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending June 12, 2016:

#

Show Name

GrossGross

TotalAttn

%Capacity

AvgPdAdm

4

ALADDIN

$1,581,642

13,642

98.74%

$115.94

35

AN ACT OF GOD

$256,649

3,700

70.20%

$69.36

14

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

$800,245

9,257

68.92%

$86.45

12

BEAUTIFUL

$889,393

7,485

91.19%

$118.82

24

BLACKBIRD

$552,394

7,375

90.91%

$74.90

26

BRIGHT STAR

$527,807

6,672

79.89%

$79.11

23

CHICAGO

$565,835

6,938

80.30%

$81.56

30

ECLIPSED

$387,767

5,233

81.56%

$74.10

16

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

$751,607

9,213

67.46%

$81.58

17

FINDING NEVERLAND

$688,641

9,483

78.81%

$72.62

31

FULLY COMMITTED

$370,369

5,009

68.50%

$73.94

33

FUN HOME

$331,268

4,514

76.25%

$73.39

2

HAMILTON

$2,028,208

10,754

101.76%

$188.60

25

JERSEY BOYS

$540,996

6,133

62.43%

$88.21

20

KINKY BOOTS

$660,084

7,193

63.14%

$91.77

15

LES MISÉRABLES

$755,856

9,108

80.80%

$82.99

29

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

$408,921

4,420

100.23%

$92.52

11

MATILDA

$911,510

11,011

96.12%

$82.78

13

ON YOUR FEET!

$859,596

8,909

68.49%

$96.49

6

PARAMOUR

$1,093,610

11,279

74.36%

$96.96

7

SCHOOL OF ROCK

$1,082,064

11,187

93.54%

$96.73

21

SHE LOVES ME

$618,089

6,961

99.44%

$88.79

9

SHUFFLE ALONG, OR, THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED